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Northern Ireland AssemblyU.K.

6Reduction in size of Assembly to be reserved matterU.K.

(1)The Northern Ireland Act 1998 is amended as follows.

(2)In Schedule 3 (reserved matters), after paragraph 7 insert—

7AThe alteration of the number of members of the Assembly returned for each constituency.

This paragraph does not include—

(a)the alteration of that number to a number lower than five or higher than six, or

(b)the provision of different numbers for different constituencies.

(3)After section 7 insert—

7ACross-community support required for Bill altering size of Assembly

(1)The Assembly shall not pass a relevant Bill without cross-community support.

(2)In this section—

(4)In section 14 (submission by Secretary of State), after subsection (3) insert—

(3A)The Secretary of State shall not submit a Bill for Royal Assent if the Assembly has passed the Bill in contravention of section 7A (cross-community support required for Bill altering size of Assembly).

(5)In section 53(3)(b) (agreements etc by person participating in Councils), after “section” insert “ 7A, ”.